Chapter Notes: This is my first fic, at least here, and I've only recently gotten into the show and I've been trying to get it all figured out. So I hope nothing here contradicts, but I'm basically running on my own timeline. The fic is Piotr/OC centered, but I hope that does not deter people from reading. So I hope you all enjoy and reviews are welcome.

Summary: Even men of steel can have hearts of glass.

^_^

~AM

Chapter 1: Dark and Light

She awoke once more to the dark silence of her prison. All concepts of night and day had been lost on her all those years ago, even the exact number of years was unknown. Time would be nearly non-existent if it weren't dragging on forever, as it seemed to do. She sighed and pulled the paper-thin blanket over her having lost it in her sleep. She hadn't left the small room in days, she wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not, but was thankful that there had been no more tests, no more experiments in the last couple weeks. The room consisted of little more than a bed, desk and chair, a simple lamp, an old television, and a conjoined bathroom. She shivered again and sat up slightly, her movement limited.

She always wondered what life would be like outside of this metal caged world. Magneto always spoke of intolerance, suffering and pain for all mutants in the human world. She used to not believe him but after a little while, hope had escaped her and she had resigned her fate to being nothing more than a test rat for whatever he had planned. Magneto always spoke of unlocking her powers, but he had never even told her what they were, for all she knew she was normal, but he knew otherwise.

She heard movement outside the door, which was not unusual; there had been a lot of that lately. "More so than usual," she thought. She hadn't had any visitors either, minus Sabretooth, he still brought her food, but he wasn't one for conversation. She had met a few of the others, there was his son, Pietro, whom had been by often when he was young, but in recent years he had stopped coming by. That blue woman, who she rather detested, as well as a frog like one and a couple others whom she had heard of but never met. There had been a couple additions to the group as she had learned but none had she ever seen, except one who she had teased about being Mr. Universe and just remembered him blushing, but never speaking a word.

The lock turned and light seeped into the room, she shielded her eyes not accustomed to the brightness. A rather large figure blocked the light, "Hey Mr. Universe," she teased. She heard a small chuckle before he moved into the room and picked her up.

"What's on the agenda today? Blood? MRI's? Injections of the unknown?" she joked. She didn't know what it was about him, but she felt comfortable cracking jokes or trying to make conversation. She never spoke to the others like this, but they had been here longer, they were more hardened, but this man had some light to him that she could sense that had yet been put out.

"Magneto has himself a new toy," he told her, though he was hardly trying to make a joke. In fact, it hurt him to be the one bringing her to such a device, one Magneto had said would clearly be a painful ordeal. He heard her sigh and rest her head against his chest. Magneto had gone to some extremes to keep her under his control, namely pieces of metal just under her skin, the freshest along her back limiting her movement until they were healed.

"So how's the weather?"

He looked down at her, her eyes were closed and she looked like she could go right back to sleep.

"Its nice out, sunny and clear," he told her.

She smiled sadly, "Maybe one day I'll get to see it again."

He tightened his grip a little bit, "Maybe it can be arranged," he said thoughtfully. She looked up slightly to see if he was kidding or not, his face was emotionless, but his eyes said he was truthful. She smiled at him and returned to looking around.

"Never gone this way before that I can remember," she said thinking aloud.

"Magneto has been working on this for quite sometime, I warn you though," he said taking on a serious tone, "its not going to be fun."

She nodded in response, "It never is."

They emerged in a large room; she involuntarily cringed at the sight of his newest contraption.

"You're right, it sure doesn't look fun," she whispered. Magneto emerged from one side, ready for his newest attempt to unlock her powers.

"Put her in the machine, then lock it up and take your place," he ordered. Piotr nodded and moved forward, placing her into the chamber, a chair waiting for her. He gave her a sad smile before turning and leaving the chamber and locking it up, then moving to his place beside Magneto. She watched him flip switches and check readings. There was a slight whirring and she figured it was allowing air to enter into the chamber, "I hope its letting air into here, I don't see how its gonna get in any other way," she thought. She heard a slight cackling sound of a speaker, yet she couldn't make out one.

"Ready my dear? This is going to be a rough ride," Magneto spoke.

"What else is new, maybe after this you'll actually tell me what I can do, or have you just been doing all this for show cause maybe you're wrong and I don't actually have any powers, but you just don't want to admit it," she joked. He grew silent and before she knew what hit her, it felt as if thousands of pins were being poked into her body, seeping under her skin and attempting to reach her very soul. She screamed in sheer pain the metal under her skin gathering more pain than the rest.

Outside Magneto stood still waiting and watching, ignoring her screams of agony. Beside him, Piotr did everything in his power to not run over there and stop it all. Even the strongest men can have a soft heart.

"Sir, how long does this last?" he finally asked. "Another minute is all it should take, this machine will help her powers surface, they should've years ago, but something is holding hers back," he said. The machine powered down slowly until it was quiet. "Get her out, I need to get some blood then take her back to her room," Magneto ordered. Piotr followed his orders, as soon as the blood was drawn he carried her too her room. As soon as he was sure Magneto was occupied he reentered with a first aid kit, a clean towel and one of his t-shirts.

She didn't speak, but her eyes would flicker open now and then and follow him around. She couldn't move an inch; every millimeter of her body was on fire and in pain.

"Um...forgive me," he said a bright blush across his face as he undressed her and placed her in the small tub. He cleaned her up and slipped his t-shirt over her head, the large shirt practically a dress, falling just short of her knees.

He slipped her back in bed, "I'm sorry," he whispered pulling the sheet up over her then quietly left the room.